Ben Johnson

ICE detainee in Arizona dies after not receiving ‘timely medical attention’ Emmanuel Damas, a Haitian asylum seeker, was being held at the Florence correctional center before he died

32 immigrants died in ICE custody in 25, and already in 2026, 9 have died. Immigrant detention becomes a death machine.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Now that Kristi Noem is out of a job she can spend more time at home doing what she loves best. Cheating on her husband and murdering her children’s puppies.

Kamlager-Dove: During you tenure at DHS, have you had sexual relations with Corey Lewandowski?

Noem: I am shocked we are peddling tabloid garbage.

This is a good response.

Wow, the Dem primary turnout among Hispanic voters in Texas is going to be giving the GOP sweats for the next 8 months.

Take Zapata County - turnout in the Dem primary there yesterday was 143% the total number of votes Harris won in the 2024 general election. That's wild.

Random Texas history. The runoff required when no primary candidate gets at least 50% was out in place to stop impeached former governor James Ferguson (who resigned & argued the Senate’s ban on holding office didn’t apply to him) when he ran against multiple progressive candidates in 1918. 🗃️

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I've argued that Texas has turned the corner in grappling with the dark chapters of its history. I hope that my optimism wasn't misplaced; if you want to support a more pluralistic commemorative landscape, please contribute. /4 @refusing2forget.bsky.social. www.mightycause.com/give/Refusin...

Mansfield School Integration Attempt - Refusing to Forget #OTD in 1956 Texas Rangers under J.E. Banks arrived in Mansfield, TX, to help “keep the peace” during the failed attempt to desegregate Mansfield High School.

this is a big step back. And what Molina et al, deeply involved in whitewashing Ranger history, don't acknowledge here is the model of the statue, JE Banks, and how he came to wide public recognition. /3

refusingtoforget.org/mansfield-sc...

Bragg Williams Lynching - Refusing to Forget #OTD on January 20, 1919, a white mob in Hillsboro, Texas, removed Bragg Williams from the county jail and burned him at the stake at the intersection of Elm

in recent years Texas has made great strides in acknowledging some of the dark chapter of its past, including in places like Waco and Hillsboro that are not exactly bastions of Bolshevism or Sapphic love. /2
refusingtoforget.org/bragg-willia...

A controversial statue removed in 2020 is back and now it’s at the Rangers’ ballpark The 12-foot 'One Riot, One Ranger' statue is back, now installed at Globe Life Field after it was removed from Dallas Love Field in 2020.

on the "everything bad and old is back again" front (KKK, fascism, wars of aggression, megalomaniacal dictators etc) comes this news. /1

www.nbcdfw.com/news/sports/...

just read his new Atlantic piece, total trash

Ben Johnson standing next to Porvenir historical marker

Stones left at the base of the marker

Paying my respects

Insane in the membrane

our murderous federal government

Ashes & Solidarity Worshippers at a Chicago-area Ash Wednesday Mass bore witness to atrocities unfolding on U.S. soil. For these Catholics, Trump's cruelty against migrants is nothing less than a spiritual crisis.

"the liturgies unfolding over the past year are different from those predecessors because they bear witness to atrocities unfolding here on U.S. soil, to the authoritarian violence afflicting American cities, neighborhoods, schools, and businesses."

www.commonwealmagazine.org/nickerson-ic...

The UT System's New 'Controversial Topics' Policy Is About Policing Knowledge When politically appointed regents and administrators determine which topics are “germane,” academic freedom quietly shifts into political compliance.

This Texas historian thoroughly agrees with María del Carmen Unda that ". . . You cannot teach Texas history honestly without confronting conquest, segregation, labor exploitation, border regimes, and racialized policymaking."

www.texasobserver.org/ut-system-ne...

See you tomorrow, RGV!
Join the discussion with RTF co-founder, @benjaminhjohns1.bsky.social and learn why “Texas Is Bigger Than You Think It Is,” as well as a roundtable discussion on Trouble in the Borderlands. All community members are welcome.

New Blog Post ➡️ refusingtoforget.org/terror-is-th... Refusing to Forget member @leahlao.bsky.social demonstrates how the violence that the world is witnessing in Minneapolis and the murders that have occured in other cities since Trump resumed office, is horrific....but it is not new.

the 2020s, sadly so much like the 1910s

refusingtoforget.org/terror-is-th...

My governor, learning from history

She never lived to see this moment, but it’s worth remembering that none of this would have happened without Virginia Giuffre.

She had the courage to speak out against power and privilege when it was just her word against Andrew’s.

Thanks to her, justice & accountability may finally have its day.

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Democracy in Crisis? International Perspectives. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar. In recent years, the ideals and assumptions of democracy—as well as its inevitably imperfect institutions and practices—have come under attack. In light of recent developments and debates surrounding ...

The OAH is running a discussion about history and democracy tomorrow morning, with three distinguished international scholars of US history as panelists. You can register here

us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

and find a brief description if you scroll down here: www.oah.org/2026/01/13/u...

so much winning

Sick fourth-grader among 4 Columbia Heights students held by ICE Columbia Heights Public Schools says four students remain detained by ICE after Liam’s return, including 10-year-old Elizabeth, who has fallen ill.

Elizabeth is a Columbia Heights fourth-grader who loves volleyball, learning English and giggling in the halls with her friends. She's been held in the Dilley Immigration Processing Center for nearly a month, and she and her mom have both fallen ill. sahanjournal.com/education/co...

list them anyway, the press usually reaches out on your behalf

Texas A&M faculty, students rally against policy they deem censorship A professor says he’s speaking up for others “deathly afraid” of losing their jobs or being targeted by state leadership.

proud of Aggie students and faculty. @tamu-aaup.bsky.social As usual, @aaup.org plays a critical role.

www.texasstandard.org/stories/texa...

What Happens When Public History Disappears In January 2026, the National Park Service removed the slavery exhibition at the President’s House site in Philadelphia, PA

my colleague Tikia Hamilton: "erasure of African Americans’ experiences in history is thus itself a form of racial violence, which becomes reproduced in our inability to come to grips with our troubled American past.”

www.forbes.com/sites/marybe...

great explication of the Canales hearings, photos are searing.

refusingtoforget.org/the-canales-...

Trump announced today that he was going to keep housing prices up, sued the US taxpayers for $10B, threatened Canada, made a few dozen posts about how he won in 2020, posted about prosecuting Obama for treason, then went to a movie about his wife that Bezos spent $75 million on.